In times of crisis, seeking advice or guidance from an expert can be very reassuring. Automated chatbots and online FAQs can be useful, but whether it's a doctor for a health concern, a plumber for a leak, or a cybersecurity expert for a potential attack, having someone to talk to can make a big difference during a time of need. That's why we launched our cyber helpline services.
Our cyber helpline services have been designed to fit the needs of our partners and their customers, and in growing this service we now offer various versions of our helpline in multiple languages worldwide. Our team of expert agents has already helped many policyholders by offering them quick, first-instance support when they have cybersecurity concerns. We recently spoke with Alex, our Support Team Manager, to get some real-life cyber support stories from the front line of our support team.
Thanks for joining us, Alex! Would you mind quickly introducing yourself and your team?
Certainly! My name is Aleksander Wanat, and I am in charge of our support team. Initially, our focus was on providing technical support for our software, but as our helpline services have expanded rapidly, I now manage a team of dedicated agents who cover nine languages across eight different countries.
To set the scene, please can you first explain the different iterations of the cyber helplines that we offer at DynaRisk?
We offer various support helplines that cater to different types of clients. Our standard support helpline provides technical assistance to customers using our cyber risk software products. The First Notification of Loss helpline is designed to provide support to policyholders in case of a cyber claim. Our agents offer guidance and assurance to help them through the process. Additionally, we provide an enhanced support helpline where our agents can assist our customers with cyber issues beyond technical support. For instance, if someone suspects that they have malware on their system, they can call our agents, who will run some checks and provide them with expert support and advice to resolve the issue.
For the enhanced support, what sort of issues do you tend to deal with?
It can be anything related to cyber! As we have our own threat intelligence team, our agents are fully up to date with the latest threats and trends and are all fully trained to deal with a range of scenarios. This can include things such as cyberbullying, financial fraud, ransomware, phishing emails, business email compromise - you name it, we can help with it!
What are some recent examples of scenarios that your team has supported?
Ok, so I'll give you a few recent examples. Common issues people call about include phishing, fraud and virus removals. We had a customer contact us recently because they started receiving small packages at their home address every day. I'm not sure exactly what was in these packages, but the customer was really freaked out!
They contacted our helpline and spoke to one of our agents. Our agent offered lots of reassurance and really calmed the customer down, which is the most important step for us, in the first instance. Once the customer was calmer, our agent took them through a range of steps to help them get to the bottom of the issue. We scanned our dark web dataset and identified a data breach that would enable someone to get the customer's details. We also spent time educating the customer, talking them through 2-step verification and ensuring they were the only person with access to their accounts. After that, we also helped them compile a report to send to the authorities to report the incident.
Another example is when a customer got in touch and panicked because they'd received an email stating that their computer had been hacked and they had to pay a high ransom to get their data back. Obviously, the customer called up very concerned, as they hadn't actually questioned the legitimacy of the email at that point. Once our agent had calmed the customer down, we took a look at the email and were able to demonstrate to the customer that the email was a scam. They weren't really educated on phishing campaigns, so we took some time to talk them through what these are and how to spot them in the future.
In both of these examples, a customer who was initially very stressed and scared left the call feeling relieved and grateful that they were able to speak to a real person who spoke their language when they needed help. Many of the issues we deal with are often just concerns or worries that the customer has at the point of the call. We are there to guide them and help them before they become too distressed over an issue that may be easily resolved. We also provide guidance to prevent them from making hasty decisions, such as paying a fake ransom fee, due to a lack of guidance through the issue.
And in terms of your approach as a team, what are your priorities, and why do you think this works well?
For us, one of our main priorities is being personable and actually caring about our customers. We do, of course, pair this with our cyber expertise (we are all genuinely embedded within the cybersecurity world and not just reading from a script!), but the first thing people want in a time of need is someone who cares. The same applies to any expert in any field. That's something our team does incredibly well; we lead with a very personable approach and we really do care! That is something that can't be taught.
Finally, if you could offer any advice for anyone out there when it comes to cyber - what would it be?
The main thing I would always recommend is education! Education fosters awareness and scepticism, which can really save people from clicking, downloading or making hasty payments. It's really important to have other things in place (2-step verification, anti-virus etc), but educating yourself on cyber best practices is the most important thing for you to understand and manage your risk. Of course, a tool like Cyber Xpert (for personal use) or Breach Defence (for businesses) is fantastic for offering education, as well as offering other scans and monitoring which give our customers enhanced protection.
Thank you for catching up with us today, Alex. We appreciate it and look forward to seeing where your team goes this year!
Thank you for the chat; me too! We have big plans for this year, so I'm very excited to see where our team goes.
Are you interested in offering your customers instant cyber support in their time of need? Our helpline can be the perfect extension to cyber insurance policies or banking benefits. If you'd like to find out more about our helpline and how we can help your customers avoid or mitigate cyber attacks, get in touch with our team: info@dynarisk.com
Or, find out more about our products by visiting our solutions or product pages on www.dynarisk.com